The fireworks made the flashiest statement, as fireworks are wont to do, but Alita Arendell was equally impressed with the Fourth of July parade at Haines.

“I couldn’t even guess how many more people were there than normal,” said Arendell, president of Friends of Haines.

“Everything was bigger.”

Twice as big, in the case of the fireworks show.

Arendell said the announcer at the Haines Stampede Rodeo claimed the pyrotechnic display was the sixth-largest in Oregon this Independence Day.

“That’s a big accomplishment for the little town of Haines,” Arendell said.

Friends of Haines, which aims to raise $10,000 each year for the show, was able to double its budget this year thanks to a $10,000 donation from Todd Hoffman of “Gold Rush,” the reality TV show being made this year in Baker County and Philip Wirth in recognition of Harvest Christian Church and the teachers at Harvest Academy school.

Arendell hopes to duplicate the $20,000 figure for the 2017 display, but she acknowledged that meeting that goal poses a major challenge to her small organization.

Friends of Haines’ major fundraiser is a May steak feed and auction at the Frontier Saloon in Haines.

Arendell said the group always welcomes donations, as well as volunteer members. Donations can be mailed to Friends of Haines at P.O. Box 121, Haines OR 97833.

More information is available by calling her at 541-403-2142, or Garla Rowe at the Haines Sell-Rite Store, 541-856-3461.

Arendell said the Haines Stampede Rodeo’s new covered grandstand was popular with spectators during the sun-filled two-day event.

The second-annual pie-baking contest, sponsored by the Haines Mutual Improvement Club, drew many competitors, and Jodie Averett won first prize for her apple pie.

See more in the July 6, 2016, issue of the Baker City Herald.